Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Updates Begin!

Anna Youngers drawing at the top of Kaaterskill Falls

We have just finished our first week at the Hudson River Fellowship. Sorry for the delay in updates, but the internet access here is not very convenient and it wasn't working at all for quite a few days. To give you an idea of our daily life here, we leave the house at 7 am, paint until 9 pm, and meet up to share our work every few days after 9 pm. It's quite a scramble just to fit in eating and sleeping! It feels so good to be in the woods all day long, away from cell service and the internet. We've all been reading Asher B. Durand's Letters on Landscape Painting, from which the spirit and intentions of this fellowship are derived. These letters were first published in The Crayon in 1855 and I'll share some excerpts here that I found particularly insightful.

"Form is the first subject to engage your attention. Take pencil and paper, not the palette and brushes, and draw with scrupulous fidelity the outline or contour of such objects as you shall select, and so far as your judgment goes, choose the most beautiful or characteristic of it's kind. If your subject be a tree, observe particularly wherein it differs from those of other species ... by this course you will also obtain the knowledge of that natural variety of form, so essential to protect you against frequent repetition and monotony. A moment's reflection will convince you of the vital importance of drawing, and the continual demand for it's exercise in the practice of outline, before you begin to paint." -- Asher B. Durand, 1855

learning a thing or two watching Jacob Collins at work

veteran fellow Thomas Kegler shares some advice on our first night around the dinner table

enjoying a quiet morning in Kaaterskill Clove

I will share some of our work as soon as I have time to take decent photos. Thank you for your patience!